2] anyone know when they are going to force the new style [edit ~ I mean the new UI] on us? (I'll need to do support for some older-beginner-relatives when that happens - probably better to just make the change before it's forced on me, but having a time-frame would help). Edit - I see they've already forced it on one of my accounts, it's possible that it's being phased in as opposed to all at once...

They probably don't care about the victims of stolen accounts, but they do care about the cash they bleed to support staff needed to cope with stolen account retrieval procedures.

You are probably right, but having said that the 2 step verification setup itself is costing them a lot, if they didn't have Google voice infrastructure already I doubt they would provide 2 step verification so readily

Seems a bit much for a basic Google email account. So I'm guessing they're putting it in place primarily for something else. Possibly to make GoogleDocs more appealing to corporate buyers?

Not sure about that. People don't like to get their accounts stolen. Facebook has had this for like ~6months or something, I guess Google had to respond with a similar feature.

I've been using it, but I find it a bit annoying. Along with two step authentication, they have also implemented single-use passwords: you have to change the password for your email client (in all computers), google talk and desktop calendar (if you have any of those). Also, if you delete browser cookies when you close the browser, you will have to enter the phone password every time you login with google.

I don't use it because I don't have a mobile I can receive text messages to. I only use Google Voice. That means I'd need to be signed into my account already to get the code that is required to sign into my account.

As for the new UI. It's not entirely new, either. I changed over to it shortly after Google+ launched (which was in June?) since I knew it was going to be forced on me eventually. I'm already used to it and I don't think much about it these days.

"it" being my queries, or googles verification? ~ I'm just being a little contrary

I've only seen both these features offered in gmail in the last few weeks here (it's possible I had a shortish spell before that where I didnt use a browser to check mail). I guess they introduced them in the US first...

One nice thing about the new look is that it's somewhat customizable, i.e. message list density. Along with a few choice Gmail Labs projects (or Greasemonkey scripts, if you must), Gmail can be almost whatever you want it to be.

I recently discovered the "split pane with preview" Labs option that makes it very much like a desktop email client and it's pretty interesting! I long ago got used to not having the preview pane, and I don't like everything about the behavior when it's enabled, but the quick toggle and easy switch between vertical and horizontal split is pretty cool. I haven't yet decided if I'll end up using it enough to leave it enabled but it's awesome to have the option.

I recently discovered the "split pane with preview" Labs option that makes it very much like a desktop email client and it's pretty interesting! I long ago got used to not having the preview pane, and I don't like everything about the behavior when it's enabled, but the quick toggle and easy switch between vertical and horizontal split is pretty cool. I haven't yet decided if I'll end up using it enough to leave it enabled but it's awesome to have the option.

Personally I don't like the split-pane preview window. What I do find useful sometimes is simply right-clicking an e-mail and then it will load a preview window on the fly. It's one of the Labs features called "Message Sneak Peek."